Council Tax set to rise massivly in Crawley

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Thu 15th Jul 2004

Gordon Seekings - warning that residents could face a bigger Council Tax bill even if Council Tax doesn't rise

At a meeting of Crawley Borough Councils Cabinet on 14 July the Borough council's chief financial officer warned that there could be major problems ahead. Under questioning from Northgate's Lib Dem Councillor, Gordon Seekings, on the outturn financial figures for 2003/2004 he warned that a revaluation of Council Tax bandings could have a dramatic effect in future years.

As Gordon explained after the meeting "At present most residents in Crawley are in property that is in financial band C. After revaluation most will be in band D. That will mean a big increase in Council Tax for many residents even if the Council Tax increase is zero."

Gordon went on to say "Inspired leaks from the government seem to suggest that they may chose to introduce an increase in the number of bandings for Council Tax. If this is the case then it is just tinkering with a flawed system. Changes may help those in the most expensive property or the cheapest but will do nothing for the vast majority of people in Crawley."

"What is needed is abolition of the farcical Council Tax system and the introduction of a fair taxation system that is geared to the ability to pay. Only one system fits that and that's a locally generated income tax."